Tourism group asked for view on contentious greenway
The greenway proposal has caused a lot of unease among local property owners.
Members of Destination Westport were challenged on their views on the controversial Clew Bay Greenway at a meeting last week, particularly in relation to the proposed cross-country section at Murrisk.
The matter was raised by Cllr Peter Flynn following a presentation by Destination Westport members Joe Corcoran and Suzanne O’Brien at the monthly meeting of the forum on Monday last, with the Fine Gael councillor exhorting the duo to make their views known. The greenway has been the subject of much debate in recent years with local landowners strongly opposing the proposed cross-country route from Westport to Murrisk.
Cllr Flynn stated: “You have not come out either way to say it is a good structure for the entirety of Clew Bay, whether it is part of your plans or is it not viewed as a significant piece of infrastructure?”
Ms O'Brien replied that the existing Great Western Greenway from Westport to Newport, Mulranny and Achill "shows what can be capitalised on".
"For Westport, [the Clew Bay Greenway] would be a very key piece of marketing and so long as it is put in place in agreement with all the landowners, we could promote it both on the domestic and international markets, between cycle trails and walks. Also, there used to be a food trail called the Gourmet Greenway that has been disbanded so we would see it as key infrastructure that we could benefit from.”
Cllr Chris Maxwell welcomed the endorsement, telling Ms O’Brien: “You are correct, we need the goodwill of all the landowners.”
- Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
